Upon his return to Rome in 68, Nero failed to respond decisively to a revolt in Gaul, prompting further unrest in Africa and in Spain, where the governor Galba declared himself legate of the Senate and Roman People. While Paul was reaching the far western edge of the empire[6], the church at Rome began to be persecuted. Nero, much to his relief, found his actions applauded. Nero died young, killing himself at the age of 30, in AD 68. Tacitus (A.D. 56-120) wrote that when the troops came to kill her, she told them if “you have come to see me, take back word that I have recovered (from the sinking boat), but if you are here to do a crime, I believe nothing about my son, he has not ordered his mother’s murder” (translation from the book "Nero" by Jürgen Malitz, Blackwell Publishing, 2005). Recently, a newly translated poem has been published, and it depicts Nero in a positive light. His ambitious mother would go on to marry Claudius (who was also her uncle) in A.D. 49, and she saw to it that he adopted her son, giving him a new name that started with “Nero.” His tutors included the famous philosopher Seneca, a man who would continue advising Nero into his reign, even writing the proclamation explaining why Nero killed his mother. Upon Claudius’ sudden death in 54—classical sources suggest Agrippina fed him poisoned mushrooms—the 17-year-old Nero ascended the throne. Additionally a rebellion in Judea in A.D. 67, near the end of Nero’s reign, would eventually lead to the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and the destruction of the Second Temple. This forced him to raise taxes wherever he could and even take religious treasures. As Shotter notes, a large part of Nero’s legitimacy as emperor was based, not only on the fact that he was the adopted son of Claudius, but that he was married to his daughter. He began to rule in AD 54, and ruled until AD 68. Despite his brilliant military prowess, his political skills and his ...read more, Located just east of the Roman Forum, the massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.D. 70-72 by Emperor Vespasian of the Flavian dynasty as a gift to the Roman people. The general persecution subsided as the elder apostle sat dictating his what he remembered about his Master.

Scholars were surprised to discover that the text, which proclaims Nero a man “equal to the gods,” dates to about two centuries after Nero’s death, suggesting that some individuals in the Roman Empire held a favorable view of him long after his death.

“Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace,” wrote Tacitus (translation from Jürgen Malitz’s "Nero"). Agrippina the Younger was the daughter of Agrippina the Elder and the great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. © “Many believe that Nero did not kill himself in June of 68,” he writes.

As the first Roman emperor (though he never claimed the title for himself), Augustus led Rome’s transformation from republic to empire during the tumultuous years following the assassination of his great-uncle and adoptive father Julius Caesar. Some believe Nero’s fate was inevitable. The newly adopted son would later take the hand of his stepsister, Octavia, in marriage, and become Claudius’ heir apparent, the emperor choosing him over his own biological son, Britannicus (who died shortly after Nero became emperor). Eventually Seneca encouraged Nero to step out from his domineering mother’s shadow. A brilliant lawyer and the first of his family to achieve Roman office, Cicero was one of the ...read more, Known for his philosophical interests, Marcus Aurelius was one of the most respected emperors in Roman history. The following day, he committed suicide. At private events beginning in 59, he sang and performed on the lyre and encouraged members of the upper classes to take dancing lessons. Although it’s unknown whether Nero sang and strummed his lyre while Rome burned in 64 A.D., he certainly didn't play a fiddle: bowed string instruments wouldn't appear in Europe for another 800 years. By The apostle met with many believers in around the house to which he was confined[4]. In A.D. 66, Nero, a lover of Greek culture, embarked on a trip to Greece, which had been under Roman control for about two centuries by his time. Ancient sources say that Nero considered evacuating the island, but this proved unnecessary as the Roman commander on the island Gaius Suetonius Paulinus massed a force of 10,000 men and defeated Boudicca at the Battle of Watling Street. She arranged for Nero to wed Claudius’ daughter Octavia in 53, further sidelining the emperor’s son Britannicus. He started work on a new palace called the Domus Aurea (golden palace), which was said, at the entranceway, to have included a 120-foot-long (37 meters) column that contained a statue of him. When he was 17 years old, his mother married the Emperor Claudius after the mysterious death of Gnaeus. On the night of July 18, A.D. 64, a fire started in the Circus Maximus that would burn out of control, leaving little of the city untouched. He ordered public games to be held every five years in Rome and trained as an athlete himself, competing as a charioteer. "She wouldn't love him if she had been killed by a kick in the belly.". In addition, ancient writers claim that he started the great fire of Rome in A.D. 64 so that he could re-build the city center. Following his mother’s death, Nero gave himself fully to his longstanding artistic and aesthetic passions. Visit our corporate site. Yet, despite the numerous charges that have been levelled by ancient writers, there is evidence that Nero enjoyed some level of popular support.

A marble bust of Nero, Roman emperor from A.D. 54 to 68. After the murder of Caligula in January A.D. 41, and the ascension of Emperor Claudius shortly afterward, mother and son were reunited. Looking back on the destruction of Jerusalem, the apostle John surely reflected on the contrast between the life of Jesus and that of Nero.

When he was 17 years old, his mother married the Emperor Claudius after the mysterious death of Gnaeus. She arranged for Nero to wed Claudius… But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! However, Paul insisted on being tried by the emperor himself[3]. He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably apocryphal rumor that Nero “fiddled” while Rome burned during the great fire of 64 A.D. Born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero took his familiar name when he was adopted at age 13 by his great-uncle, the emperor Claudius (his father, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, had died when the future emperor was only 2). Officially, the reason given for Nero’s orders to kill his own mom in A.D. 59 was that she was plotting to kill him. 08 October 2013. Owen Jarus - Live Science Contributor In Britain, in A.D. 60, the Iceni Queen Boudicca (also spelled Boudica or Boudicea) rose in rebellion after she was flogged and her daughters raped by Roman soldiers. You will receive a verification email shortly. After Paul had been released, in about AD 63, Nero began to get paranoid of political movements not directly threatening his hold on the throne. At first, Boudicca was successful, overrunning a number of Roman settlements and military units. Although Vindex committed suicide after his forces were defeated by German legions in May, it was enough to undo Nero. His father, a former Roman consul, died when he was about 3 years old, and his mother was banished by the Emperor Caligula, leaving him in the care of an aunt. Soon the Praetorian Guard declared allegiance to Galba, and the Senate followed suit, declaring Nero an enemy of the people. Champlin writes that people also refused to believe that Nero was actually dead. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. “He let slip no opportunity for acts of generosity and mercy, or even for displaying his affability,” wrote the otherwise critical Suetonius in the 2nd century A.D. (translation by J. C. Rolfe). Nero was born with name Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus in 37 AD, but renamed as Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus because his mother, Agrippina the Younger, married Emperor Claudius in 49 AD, who adopted Nero in 50 AD.